[hu3]

> Strip markdown decoration: Headers (##), bold (*), italic (*), horizontal rules (---). These are visual aids Claude doesn't need.

In my experience, LLMs do understand header levels in markdown. So removing these is detrimental.

---

> Compress table formatting: Markdown tables with alignment rows and padding are verbose for what they communicate.

This is a good idea imo.

[jchilcher]

Fair point — headers do carry semantic meaning for section navigation, especially in longer files. My experience was that removing them didn't change behavior noticeably, but I was working with fairly flat files. If your CLAUDE.md has deep nesting where heading hierarchy actually matters for context, keeping them makes sense. The table compression is probably the higher-ROI change for most people regardless.